<  "    OCT  M  1952 


Hi^ioomi 


Rev.  William  Harris. 


ENTERED  INTO  REST  MARCH  23rd,   1885 


y^^ 


Rev.  William  Harris. 


ENTERED  INTO  REST  MARCH  23rd,   1885. 


ORDER  OF  SERVICES  AT  THE  CHURCH. 


Hymn. 

Reading  of  the  Scriptures.        .        ,         .  Dk.  Duffield. 

Address Dk.  J,  O.  Murray.       W*r44  U 

Prayer Dr.  McCosh. 

Hymn. 

Benediction. Dr.  Maclean. 


HYMK 


High  in  yonder  realms  of  light 

Dwell  the  raptured  saints  above, 
Far  beyond  our  feeble  sight, 

Happy  in  Ininianuel's  love  ; 
Pilgrims  in  this  vale  of  tears, 

Once  they  knew,  like  us  below, 
Gloomy  doubts,  distressing  fears, 

Torturing  pain  and  heavy  woe. 

'Mid  the  chorus  of  the  skies, 

'Mid  th'  angelic  lyres  above, 
Hark  !  their  songs  melodious  rise — 

Songs  of  praise  to  Jesus'  love  ; 
Happy  spirits,  they  are  fled 

Where  no  grief  can  entrance  tind. 
Lulled  to  rest  the  aching  head, 

Soothed  the  anguish  of  the  mind. 

All  is  tranquil  and  serene. 

Calm  and  undisturbed  repose  ; 
There  no  cloud  can  intervene, 

There  no  angry  tempest  blows  ; 
Every  tear  is  wiped  away, 

Sighs  no  more  shall  heave  the  breast 
Night  is  lost  in  endless  day. 

Sorrow  in  eternal  rest. 


ADDRESS. 


We  gather  in  the  house  of  God  under  circumstances  of 
unusual  solemnity  and  unusual  grief.  Death  is  always  solemn 
— the  most  solemn  thing  on  earth.  When  the  soul  passes 
from  the  seen  and  temporal  to  the  unseen  and  eternal,  and 
from  probation  to  award,  the  solemnity  of  the  event,  come 
in  what  form  it  may,  is  always  to  a  thoughtful  mind,  dense 
and  subduing.  But  coming  so  suddenly,  so  unexpectedly, 
coming  when  to  our  view  the  work  of  life  still  had  its  tasks 
to  fulfill,  its  burdens  to  carry,  its  christian  ends  to  meet  and 
satisfy,  we  are  arrested  by  the  thought,  and  must  ask  each 
for  himself  solemn  questions  as  to  our  personal  fitness  for 
life  or  death,  as  the  Great  Arbiter  may  appoint. 

But  if  possible  the  grief  of  the  hour  appeals  to  our  sym- 
l)athies  evtn  more  strongly  than  its  solemnity  appeals  to 
conscience.  A  few  weeks  since  our  friend  left  his  home 
here  for  a  few  week's  sojourn  in  the  South.  What  appre- 
hensions may  have  dwelt  in  his  own  heart  we  know  not.  If 
they  were  grave,  in  thoughtful  love  for  those  whom  they 
would  have  distressed,  he  kept  them  fast  locked  in  his  own 
bosom.  But  that  he  had  fully  anticipated  resuming  his  life 
and  work  here,  his  thought  was  only  of  a  brief  rest,  and 


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then  new  devotion  to  his  labors  with  recuperated  energy, 
is  clear  beyond  a  doubt.  And  so  his  visit  finished,  he  set 
his  face  gladly  homeward,  and  his  last  letter,  not  yet  one 
week  old,  was  full  of  longing  to  be  once  more  at  home. 
But  as  we  all  know,  it  was  ordered  otherwise.  He  was 
suddenly  seized  with  a  mortal  illness.  It  came  on  him 
like  a  flash.  Alone  he  entered  the  valley  of  the  shadow. 
In  the  land  of  the  stranger,  he  sank  under  the  sudden 
stroke.  A  few  moments  of  sickness,  then  unconsciousness, 
then  death, 

"By  foreign  bands  his  dying  eyes  were  closed, 
By  foreign  hands  his  decent  limbs  composed." 

Scarcely  less  sudden  to  those  of  his  household,  and  to 
his  friends  and  acquaintances  was  the  shock.  It  smote  us 
all  dumb  with  astonished  sorrow.  There  was  but  one  voice 
from  all  hearts,  "  The  Will  of  God,  let  us  bow  silently  and 
humbly !  His  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts 
our  thoughts.  The  cup  that  He  giveth  shall  we  not  drink 
it."  I  speak  then  in  assurance  of  a  most  uncommon  sym- 
pathy, a  few  words  in  regard  to  the  life  and  character 
of  Mr.  Harris. 

He  was  born  Dec.  20,  1831.  His  father,  Dr.  William 
Harris,  was  a  physician  in  Philadelphia,  fiivorably  known  in 
his  profession,  and  also  in  the  church,  having  been  chosen 
an  elder  in  the  10th  church  under  Dr.  Boardman's  ministr3\ 
He  came  from  a  good  lineage  on  both  the  paternal  and  ma- 
ternal side,  for  integrity  of  character,  and  for  a  staunch  god- 
liness of  life. 

Mr.  Harris  was  graduated  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1850.     His  first  purpose  was  to  devote  himself  to  a 


business  career.  In  pursuance  of  this  design  he  entered  a 
business  house  in  ISTew  York  city.  Then,  if  I  mistake  not,  he 
joinedhimself  to  aband  of  earnest  Christian  young  men  under 
the  honored  ministry  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  and  gained  that 
impulse  for  Christian  work  among  young  men  which  never 
left  him.  In  1858,  he  gave  up  flattering  business  prospects 
to  enter  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and  was 
graduated  from  the  Seminary  here  in  1861.  The  war  was 
then  upon  us  and  he  became  a  chaplain  in  the  106th  Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers,  remaining  in  this  position  for  one  year. 
Another  year  of  service  to  his  country  he  gave  in  the  work 
of  the  Sanitary  Commission.  Much  of  his  time  during  this 
period  was  given  to  visiting  and  comforting  the  sick  and 
dying  in  hospitals.  It  seems  an  affecting  coincidence  that 
he  himself  in  his  last  hours  should  have  received  from  the 
hands  of  strangers  in  the  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  at  Savannah, 
the  same  kind  ministries  he  himself  had  so  often  rendered 
the  sick  and  the  d^ing.  He  had  however  consecrated  him- 
self to  the  Christian  ministry  and  in  1864  he  became  pastor 
of  the  church  in  Towanda,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remain- 
ed for  six  years.  That  ministry  was  marked  by  the  confi- 
dence and  affection  of  his  people.  It  is  not  long  since  he  by 
a  visit  there  renewed  the  sacred  memories  of  those  years, 
and  came  back  from  it,  happy  in  the  assurances  freely  given 
that  his  work  there  was  still  kindly  treasured  in  his  old  peo- 
ple's memories.  From  that  position,  he  was  called  to  be 
Treasurer  of  Princeton  College  in  1870. 

It  is  due  the  memory  of  Mr.  Harris  to  say  that,  in  ac- 
cepting this  position,  he  had  no  idea  of  secularizing  himself, 
and  laying  aside  all  his  oflices  as  a  Christian  minister.     He 


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has  from  the  beginning  taken  his  phace  as  preacher  in  the 
College  Chapel.  While  fnltilling  sedulously  all  the  manifold 
duties  of  his  office  as  Treasurer  of  the  college,  he  has  from 
first  to  last  manifested  the  warmest  interest  in  the  religious 
Avelfare  of  the  institution.  No  one  has  co-operated  more 
heartily  with  tlie  Philadelphian  Society  in  its  religious  work 
than  he.  It  is  owing  largely  to  his  spirit  and  his  endeavors 
that  the  movement  was  begun  here,  which  has  I'esulted  in 
the  Inter-Collegiate  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

Always  interested  in  this  field  of  christian  work  among 
young  men,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  affiliation  of  our 
Philadelphian  Society  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation. And  whatever  may  have  been  the  misgivings  of 
some  of  us  at  first  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  movement,  none 
who  are  now  familiar  with  what  has  been  accomplished  will 
hesitate  to  own,  that  the  work  of  christian  young  men  in  our 
College  has  been  greatly  helped  by  this  organization.  While 
however  Mr.  Harris  was  giving  himself  to  such  efforts  here, 
he  was  interested  in  a  wider  field  of  Christian  efiort.  He 
was  a  leader  in  the  Sabbath  School  Work  of  the  State.  I 
am  glad  to  give  the  following  testimony  furnished  by  Dr. 
Worden,  his  co-laborer,  to  his  zeal  and  efficiency  here : — 

"  The  eminence  which  Mr.  Harris  attained  in  this  de- 
partment of  church  work  may  be  estimated  by  considering 
the  following  facts  : 

"  Mr.  Harris  was  so  favorite  a  leader  of  Sabbath  School 
Conventions' and  Institutes  that  he  was  sought  for  by  all  de- 
nominations, and  by  all  parts  of  the  country.  He  could  ac- 
cept but  a  few  of  the  many  pressing  invitations  to  conduct 
the  meetings. 


"  For  several  successive  years  he  was  unanimously  elect- 
ed President  of  the  New  Jersey  Sahbath  School  Association, 
embracing  all  denominations.  ISTot  only  did  he  ably  and 
successfully  preside  at  the  Annual  Conventions  of  this  Asso- 
ciation, but  he  systematized  and  extended  the  work  of  Bible 
instruction  throughout  the  State. 

"  For  years  he  was  the  associate  conductor  of  the  Sab- 
bath School  Assembly  at  Ocean  Grove. 

"In  1878  Mr.  Harris  was  elected  by  the  International 
Sabbath  School  Convention,  then  meeting  in  Atlanta,  Geor- 
gia, to  represent  New  Jersey  on  its  Executive  Committee. 
On  account  of  declining  health  the  Chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, Mr.  Franklin  Allen,  retired,  and  Mr.  Harris  took 
his  place. 

"  The  Triennial  Convention  was  approaching;  it  was  to 
meet  in  Toronto,  Canada.  Upon  Mr.  Harris  rested  the  re- 
sponsibility of  preparing  a  programme  of  that  most  import- 
ant gathering  of  Sabbath  School  workers  in  the  world.  The 
programme  of  subjects,  and  speakers,  which  he  arranged 
and  published,  and  which  was  carried  out  at  Toronto,  June 
22-24,  1881,  was  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  ever  produced. 

"  Time  would  fail  to  give  further  details  of  a  work  of 
such  distinguished  importance  and  success. 

"  There  were  three  characteristics  in  the  Sabbath  School 
work  of  Rev.  Mr.  Harris  : 

1st.  His  high  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  Bible 
study,  his  view  of  the  Scriptures  as  God's  Word,  and  his 
persistent  effort  to  render  more  thorough  the  study  of  the 
Bible  in  these  schools. 

2nd.  His  superb  executive  ability  was  shown  in  his  suc- 
cess in  systematizing  the  details  of  this  work. 


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Srd.  His  constant  and  conscientious  endeavor  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  School  work  to  its  true  aim — the  complete  sal- 
vation of  the  scholar,  his  immediate  conversion  to  Christ 
and  his  after-training  in  Christ. 

"  On  these  accounts,  thousands  of  earnest  Sabbath 
School  superintendents  and  teachers  blessed  God  for  his  as- 
sistance to  them,  and  cherish  the  memory  of  Mr.  Harris,  as 
that  of  a  Christian  leader  and  helper." 

And  so  for  fifteen  years  he  has  been  among  us  filling 
up  his  record  of  Christian  endeavor.  Holding  the  position 
he  did,  he  was  made  aware  of  many  opportunities  of  per- 
sonal kindness  to  students.  ISTot  a  few  of  the  graduates  of 
the  fifteen  years  past  will  gladly  testify  to  such  acts  of 
consistent  kindness  on  his  part.  For  he  was  a  man  of  gen- 
erous and  kindly  nature.  Quick  and  impulsive  in  tempera- 
ment, he  was  also  quick  and  impulsive  in  his  readiness  to 
give  a  helping  hand  when  it  was  needed.  Letters  which 
have  come  to  condole  with  and  comfort  his  sorrowing  house- 
hold, show  how  warm  and  true  his  friendships  were.  Of 
the  home  and  its  loss  it  is  not  for  me  to  speak.  That  grief 
is  too  deep  and  too  sacred  for  any  unveiling  to  the  public 
eye.  The  happy  and  blessed  memories  of  the  past;  the 
bright  anticipations  of  reunion  beyond  the  grave,  are  now 
its  only  heritage.  May  God  uphold  and  comfort  all  in  this 
hour  of  dreadful  loneliness  and  sorrow  ! 

It  is  now  recalled  with  more  and  more  distinctness  that 
for  two  years  past,  his  health  has  been  failing.  He  sought 
needed  rest  in  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  the  Summer  of  1883. 
It  was  hoped  that  would  secure  him  complete  restoration. 
But  it  was  seemingly  only  a  temporary  relief.     He  has  kept 


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at  his  work,  at  times  prostrated,  but  bravely  struggling  and 
never  for  a  moment  allowing  his  friends  to  think  any  serious 
calamity  impended  over  him.  And  the  end  has  come  at 
last,  has  come  suddenly.  Not  however  without  alleviations. 
It  was  no  long  decay  of  impaired  powers.  It  was  no  sharp 
and  painful  struggle.  He  had  turned  his  face  toward  his 
beloved  earthly  home.  But  he  was  nearer  to  his  Father's 
home,  than  he  thought.     The  summons  came. 

Then  with  no  tiery  throbbing  pain, 

No  cold  gradations  of  decay, 
Death  broke  at  once  tlie  vital  chain 

And  freed  his  soul  the  nearest  way. 

For  so  sometimes  it  pleases  God  "  to  give  his  beloved 
sleep." 


HYMN. 

"  Forever  with  the  Lord  ! " 
Amen  !  so  let  it  be  ; 
Life  from  the  dead  is  iu  that  word, 
'  Tis  immortality. 

Here,  in  the  body  pent, 

Absent  from  him  I  roam  ; 

Yet  nightly  pitch  ray  moving  tent 
A  day's  march  nearer  home. 

"  Forever  with  the  Lord  !  " 

Father  !  if  'tis  thy  will, 
The  promise  of  that  faithful  word 
E'en  here  to  me  fulfill. 

So  when  my  latest  breath 

Shall  rend  the  veil  in  twain, 

By  death  I  shall  escape  from  death. 
And  life  eternal  gain. 

Knowing  as  I  am  known. 

How  shall  I  love  that  word  ! 

And  oft  repeat  before  the  throne, 
"  Forever  with  the  Lord  !  " 


